Reports & Resources
A Major Step: What Adults Without Degrees Say About Going (Back) to College
Millions of American adults either have no education beyond high school or have some college but no degree. Helping more adults attain a degree or certificate is crucial for our...
Elevating Community College Faculty Voices
Over four years, Public Agenda partnered with the League for Innovation in the Community College (“the League”) to strengthen their capacity to be field leaders in the practice of effective...
Tackling Transfer: A Guide to Convening Community Colleges and Universities to Improve Transfer Student Outcomes
Nationally representative surveys reveal that the vast majority of students who begin community college aim to earn a bachelor’s degree, but fewer than 15 percent achieve that goal within six...
Success Is What Counts
A Community College Guide to Community Engagement & Strategic Partnerships Most often, large-scale institutional change work at colleges is viewed as an expert-driven process. It tends to go something like...
What’s Free College Got to do With Completion?
Affordability and accessibility do not equal completion. What good is free college if up to nearly three-quarters of students never finish? Originally published on InsideSources.Com (August 28, 2016) The idea of free...
Public Opinion on Higher Education: What’s the Payoff Americans Consider Problems and Promises of Higher Education
Policymakers and experts overwhelmingly agree that the United States needs more people with college degrees or other postsecondary credentials. Public Agenda, with support from The Kresge Foundation, conducted a representative...
The Transfer Playbook: Essential Practices for Two- and Four-Year Colleges
Fewer than one in seven degree-seeking community college students transfer and graduate with a bachelor's degree. How do we help the millions of students failed by current transfer practices and...
Understanding The Academic Calendar: A Resource Guide
Developed by the Competency-Based Education Network (C-BEN), this resource helps higher-education professionals better understand definitions and terms related to the academic calendar. Public Agenda is a supporting organization of C-BEN. 2016
Questions Information Technology Professionals Should Ask About Competency-Based Education Programs
Developed by the Competency-Based Education Network (C-BEN), this resource helps information technology professionals support competency-based innovation on their campuses. The questions raised in this document will ensure institutions have the...
Activities and Impact
This report summarizes major activities and outcomes of the Competency-Based Education Network (C-BEN) between March 2015 and March 2016. Public Agenda is a supporting organization of C-BEN. 2016
Questions Financial Aid Professionals Should Ask About Competency-Based Education Programs
Institutional leaders have many questions about financial aid when they are designing and implementing a competency-based program. Developed by the Competency-Based Education Network (C-BEN), this resource helps financial aid professionals...
The Competency-Based Education Ecosystem Framework
The Competency-Based Education Ecosystem Framework provides a detailed description of what competency-based education (CBE) looks like from the perspectives of learners, higher education professionals, policymakers and others involved in this...
A Difficult Balance: Trustees Speak About the Challenges Facing Comprehensive Universities
Comprehensive universities—public institutions that offer four-year degrees to students drawn mostly from their regions—are the backbone of the American higher education system. But these institutions are trying to increase graduation...
Survey Of The Shared Design Elements & Emerging Practices Of Competency-Based Education Programs
This survey is the largest-scale survey ever conducted on the state of competency-based education (CBE) in higher education in the United States. The research provides baseline data on CBE programs...
Indiana Regional Transfer Study
The Student Experience of Transfer Pathways between Ivy Tech Community College and Indiana University This report details findings from focus groups with college students across Indiana. All of these students...
Profiting Higher Education: What Students, Alumni and Employers Think About For-Profit Colleges
The for-profit higher education sector has attracted significant attention over the past few years—both from enthusiasts and from critics. For-profit colleges and universities have seen a steep increase in student...
Is College Worth It for Me? How Adults Without Degrees Think About Going Back to College
Federal and state governments, as well as many private foundations, have made it a goal to significantly increase the percentage of Americans with a postsecondary credential. This means not only...
